Pneumatic cleaner.



E. A. LAUGHLIN.

PNEUMATIG CLEANER.

A'PPLloATIoN FILED 001215, 190s.

955,886. Patented Apr. 26, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'i 'run srnpns regular oFFICE. N

'ELMYR A. LAUGHL'IN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIG CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Iateiit. Patented 19] 0;

Application filed October 15, 1908. `Serial No. 457,771.

To all/whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ELMYR A. LAUGHLIN, a citizen of'theUnited States, residing at Chicago, in' the county of Cool: and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and use-4 l-ful Improvements 1n Pneumatic Cleaners,

of which the following is a'spccitication.

, vThis invention relates Vto improvements in pneumatic cleaners, and refers more particib larly to that. type of pneumatic cleaners in which the dust and air are suckedor drawn :into the cleaner lby the action of a rotary suction pump preferably operated by an electric' motor.

Amongthe salient objects of the present `invention areto provide a carpet cleaner. of

the above charactei'whicl'i` is so constructed as to .secure amaximum vacuum or suction efliciency with a minimum consumption' of powergxto provide in such a device a settling ehamberafor the reception of dust and dirt 'f wherein a large percenta e. of the dust is to provide within the dust receptacle ofthe cleaner a novel filter or screen constructiom. -tol provldeI a'dev1ce 1n which access can be` precipitated, .thus` great y lessening the amount of' dirt which must be filtered out and greatly decreasin'g the amount of power necessary to effectively operate the machine;

readilyhad to` the various parts for cleaning or. inspectiomand which'is compact in lform and economicalboth' `in construction and in operation; and in generalito'provide an improved construction of the character referred to.' l

The invention consists in the matters here- "f -inafter described, 'and' more particularly pointed out in the'appended-claims.

In 4the drawings', Figure'l designates a vertical-sectional'view of my device; Fig.l 2 is ahorizontal sectional "View takenonlines 2-2 of'Fi'g. l' and looking in the direction 3; Fig.' 5 isaninverted 'plan view of the upper batllemember shown in Fig. 4.

i Referring to' the,` drawings, l designatesl as a whole a rectangular frame-like casing,

4-within the forward'end of which is seated wh'ichis lixedjto'the'bot'tom tof the casingan lelectric inotor'2 of any `suitable type,

by suitable scrcws, This motor` 4is adaptedv to drive a rotary exhaust pump, designated as a whole 6,' which is supportedin the rear end of the` casing upon a raised platform 7 andis' Secured thereto by screws 8'. 'This' pump 6, the interior construction of which will be hereinafter described, has driving connection with the motor by means of a pair of intermcshing gears 4 and 5, the former being keyed to an extension 9 of the armature shaft of the motor and thelatter to the driving shaft of the pump. The mounting of the pump upon the raised platform 7 permits of the use of a much narrower casing inasmuch as the pump can then bein substantial alinement with the motor.

In the upper end of the casino'- 1v and directly above the motor is formel-l a drawer compartment 10 in which is adapted tolslide a drawer 11, which, invconnection withits interior construction hereinafter described,

l connection between the drawer and the casing, a `packing18 is,preferably inserted -between the flanges 12 and the shoulders 13'. This drawer may be locked in closed position by any suitable lockin device.. In the present instance each oft ese locking de# vices comprises an arm 14:, one end of which is pivotally connected to a bracket 15 secured to the .corresponding `flanvfe 12, and the other end of which is provided with a cam lever 16y Vadapted to have locking en-y gagement with a socket member 17 fixed to the side wall of the 'casing 1. From the foregoing -it 'will be seen that I provide means for securing an airtight connection between the drawer and, the casing.

Describing, now, the interior construction.

of the drawer, which forms an important feature of my invention, upon the inner wall position by means of a second screen 24, said Upon the upper side of this mesh turn-buttons 27 fixed upon the upper screen 24 and adapted to engage sultable recesses 27"in the side walls of the drawer 10. I n

order to more readily removethe .upper screen, it may be'provided with a thumb-A handle '28as, shown. The above described arrangement of these 'screens is such as to secure a dust-proof filter, which at the same timel permits thel air to pass freely there- Y through under the action of the exhaust l'the motor before'it leaves the casing,

xr-device', which may pump A6, as willhereinafter more clearly apear. p From the foregoin it will be. seen that the filter or4 screens ivide the drawer into upper and lower chambers, designated 29 and 30, respectively. In the forward end of the lower-,chamber 30'is seated a relatively short pipe 31, to which is connected the usual air tube or hose 3l. The latter is, of course, provided with a dustcollecting head 31 of any desired construction. As seen in Fig. l, the pipe 31 is seated mately Hush' with the wire mesh 22 of the .lower screen 2 0, fora purpose to be hereinyafter described. The rear end of the upper chamber 29 is provided with-a port or passage32 which registers with an air pipe or conduit 33, one endA of which extends through the rear wall of the drawer compartment 10, and the `other end o f v4which is connected to the inlet port 34; of the. pump 6. After the air has been drawn intothe pump vthrough the pipe 33 it passes out through the exhaust port 35 into the interior of the casing 1. l

The exhaust air passesout of the casin through al series of exhaust orts 36 seate 1in the lowerv forward end yo the casing, as shown, -thus compelling the air to sweepbfy Pre erably the latter is mounted lon suitable casters or rollers 37 andis also provided with handles'38, 39. Oneadvantage of mounting the device on lcasters is that it allows it to be readilymoved from place to place, thus permitting of the use of a relatively short air tube, which increases the etlciency of the device inasmuch as it has been found in .practice that the longer an air tube is the less is the vacuum pressure with a given power. The various parts above described areso arranged as to secure a very compact be readily carried about Vby means of theha'ndles ,j Ap

Describing, now, thevdperation of the device, the' motor is rst connected to any ordiiiaryl electric lamp socket and thev current theny turned on.' The suction head ofthe tube is then applied to the carpet, and, as., the pump-is operatedthrough the action of the-mtermeshinggearset and 5, theairlis been drawn `into a bag,

so as to be approxif has become filled with dirt,

out through the exhaust port ing currentl of air .following the line of least resistance will flow horizontally toward the rear end of the filter and thencevpassupwardly through ythe latter through the outlet port 32.v The heavier dust and dirt, how-Y ever, will fall down onto the licor of the drawer, the lower chamber 30 thus acting in effect as a settling chamber. .I`hi sl of course, tends to keep the lter substantially free from the greater part of the dust while at the same time permitting the air to pass freely through the Ascreens. Heretofore theV mixed air and .dust have which caught thedirtand permitted the air to passthrough the pores lor meshes of the fabric. However, as the air and dust are agitated throu hout the bag, the pores of the lattert soon ecome clogged or stopped up. B

cause of. this tendency to clog the pores of v the fabric, it has been found necessary in practice to materially increase the amount of power in order to secure the ,necessary vacuum or suction to effectively clean the car et. `In the present `construction the ten' ency of the filter to become clogged or fouled is reduced to a minim and it'has been found in practice that applicats con-Y struction, with4 a much smaller current sup@ ply, will secure a much higher vacuum pressure than will the constructions now in "us'e. Some of the inerparticles of dust will, of

course, in time accumulate on the cotton waste between thel two screensand in time tend to clog the filter, Insuch event the ups per screeneanbe removed anda new batch of cotton waste or other material inserted. This, of c'ou'rse, can be done at a very low cost. It might be here noted that this cotton Waste serves to protect the fabric of ther'upper screen from the dust and dirt,'thus preserving Athe life ofthe latter indefinitely. When the settling chamber 30 of the piston.

the screens can be readily removed and the drawer cleaned.

In Figs. 3 to-5, inelusive, I have showna slightly modified construction of the drawer or dust receptaele. In this modification 'the pipe 3l communicates withthe lower part of the settling chamber '30, and the latter. is provided with a tortuous passage which causes the dust to settle'fupon the bottom of,l the chamber but permits theI -air to pass out through the filter, as before. This -tortuous passage is'formed by a series of j alternated baflles. Describingthis construction, upon the Hoor of the settling chamber 30 isa series yof upstanding spaced `apart plates 60. 61 and 62, respectively,-eachofj these baille members being rectangular in shape," as shown ymore clearly in Fig. 3. Upon suitable brackets 64 fixed in the respective corners of the drawer 11 is supported an opposed baille support 65 provided with downwardly extending baille members 66, 67 and 68, respectivel similar in construction to the lower ba e plates and extending between the latter. These upper battle members terminate .short of the bot- /tom of the drawer, and in conjunction with 'the lower baille members form a continuous tortuous passage, as seen more'clearly in Fi 4. The lower baille plates are, of course, suitably apertured to permit of the insertion of the pipe 31. When the air is drawniin through the pipe 31 it will vpass freely through the tortuous assage formed by these baille members, an thence out through the filter as before described. The heavier dust and dirt, however, will be obstructed in ,its passage by the baille plates and will gradually settle on the floor of the chamber 30. When it is desired to clean the drawer, the filter and upper baille support 65 can be removed and the drawer cleaned.

It might be here noted that while I 'have described my device for use as a carpet cleaner, it can, of course, be used to clean books, upholstery, furniture, curtains and analogous articles as well as carpets.

. While I have herein shown what I consider a preferred embodiment of my inven tion, it 1s, of course, not limited to the de- 35 -tails yof construction except as set forth v in the claims.

Iv claim asV my invention:

l. In a pneumatic cleaner, the combination with a portable casing, of an exhaust pump within said casing, a motor for operating said pump, a drawer mounted to slide into and out of said casing and adapted to serve as a dust receptacle, a dust-proof filter dividing said receptacle into upper and lower chambers, sa1d lower chamber being provided with an air-inlet port and the upper chamber with an outlet port, and an air-conduit connected at one end to the i inlet side of the pump and at itsl other end 50 "to the outlet port of said upper chamber.

2. In a pneumatic cleaner, the combination with a dust receptacle, of a filter div1ding said receptacle into upper and lower `chambers, 'the upper chamber being pro vided with an exhaust port, and the lower one with an inlet port, op osed baille supports in said lower cham er, oneof. said exhaust port and thelatter an inlet port, v

opposedballle sup orts in said lower chamber, one of said ba e supports being formed by the bottom of the vdust receptacle, a plurality of battles connected to each support and alternately interspaced, each baille ter` minatino short of the opposed baille support, and saidj inlet port being connected with the innermost chamber formed -by said baille members and at the closed lower side thereof.

4. In a pneumatic cleaner, the combination with a dust receptacle, of a filter` interposed in said receptacle and dividing the latter into upper and lower'chambers,` said lter compr1s1ng a pair of spaced apart screens having a filler of orous material between them, opposed baste supports in said lower chamber, one of said baille supports being formed by one wall of said receptacle, telescoping baille members carried by said supports, one end of each bafile.

member terminatingy short of the opposed baille support whereby there is formed a continuous tortuous passage of greatly increasing area, said passage being connected to an inlet port, and `an exhaust pump connected to the upper chamber.

5.`In a portable pneumatic cleaner, the combination with a portable casing, of a drawer compartment 'formed therein, a

drawer mounted to slide into and out of said compartment, a filter removably seated 1n said drawer and dividing the latter into'two chambers, one of said chambers having an inlet port and the other an outlet port, an exhaust ump mounted in said casing and connected) to said outlet ort and a motor likewise seated in said casing and connected to said pump.

ELMYR A. LAUGHLIN.

Witnesses:

. Lois FORCE,

P. G. BELKNAP. 

